The imminent cuts were announced yesterday as part of a 350-strong cull across the global operations of the bank. The bank said it hopes to secure redundancies on a voluntary basis, but will implement a compulsory scheme if necessary.

Sources last night confirmed that nationalised Anglo had already been engaged in talks with the Department of Finance about the scale of any package.

The department is believed to have firmly communicated that Anglo should not go beyond the deal agreed with HSE staff last year, implying three weeks' pay plus two weeks' statutory redundancy per year of service for departing staff.

A previous round of redundancies by Anglo had offered four weeks' pay plus two weeks' statutory redundancy; but sources last night said these were "changed times" and that the Government had to be conscious of the effect across the other bailed-out banks who would also be cutting staff.

A spokesman for the bank last night declined to comment on whether Anglo had acquiesced to the Government's position on redundancy packages, pointing out that the consultation with unions was only just starting.